As many of you know, I’m working to raise money for a scholarship fund in memory of my little sister. Krystal, at the age of 21, passed away unexpectedly from an undiagnosed congenital heart defect two years ago. We want to put together a scholarship for educations majors at Thomas More College – just like Krystal.

There is an easy (easy easy easy!) way you can help! Max & Erma’s is donating 20% of all purchases from their Crestview Hills location on Thursday. That’s great, right? There’s a catch. In order for your purchase to qualify, you MUST bring this flyer with you.

But that’s it. Download the flyer, make copies, share it with everyone you know. The flyer is good all day, from lunch through a late dinner. I’ll probably be eating both there. You can also fax in an order and pick it up from their carry-out counter.

Thanks for all your help! It’s an important cause for me personally and this is just such an easy way to help us raise money.

As part of my pledge to Drink Pink this month, I picked up a bottle of the Hope Estate Shiraz. A portion of the proceeds from each bottle is donated to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. The Hunter Valley “Pink Awareness” Shiraz Reserve will
generate a $60,000 donation to the NBCF. This donation will be used to
help educate women for early detection and for much needed research in finding a cure.

While this wine may have a big purpose, it doesn't have a big punch. The nose is loaded with a lot of red fruit, which is fairly typical for an Aussie shiraz. It follows through with all that red fruit on the palate as well. There's a large amount of deep plum and dark cherry. On the finish, there's some kick – with a little bit of spice and cinnamon.

This wine isn't overly tannic – the tannins are almost soft, in fact. The alcohol level on this one is only 13.5%, which I consider blessedly low for an Aussie red. However, I do expect my Shiraz to pack a bit of a wallop and this one didn't. It's more of a gentle Shiraz.

I've made a pledge to myself this month. I'm going to drink wine with a cause in mind. Anything I can do to help, you know.

What it means is that I'll be reviewing two types of wine this month: wine that directly supports breast cancer research through purchases, and rosés, which are pink. Since it's Breast Cancer Awareness month, and even the NFL has gone pink, it's the least I can do. At the end of each post, I'll include a link where you can donate to the cause.

I'm one of the few people who hasn't been touched by breast cancer in any way. My family and friends have all been blissfully ignored by this particular cancer. However, that doesn't mean I don't live in fear of it a bit. I saw a statistic that other day that around 1 in 8 women will be touched by breast cancer in some way.

For those of you new to the blog, I lost my little sister back in 2007. She was 21 and passed away unexpectedly due to an undiagnosed congenital heart defect. My cousins and I established a scholarship fund in her memory. Our goal is to raise $25,000 to fund a scholarship at Thomas More for education majors – just like Krystal.

We've hosted two benefits and silent auctions, a Max & Erma's event, and a wine tasting. This time, we're shooting for a slightly different audience and I'm pretty excited about it. We're hosting a motorcycle scramble and poker run around Northern Kentucky.

Krystal’s Ride will be held this Saturday, starting at the Florence Elks Lodge #314 on Dixie
Highway.Registration will be from
10:30am to 12:30pm.Cost is
$20.00/$25.00 per couple. Participants will follow a recommended route,
stopping at predetermined businesses along the way to gather playing cards in
order to build the best poker hand before returning to the starting point. I'll be sitting at Dickmann's Sports Cafe in Fort Wright most of the day if you want to swing by. My job? To hand out specialized poker cards.

This is the first year for the Poker Run and we hope to make it an annual event. The event travels through several
Kentucky counties and even extends out to the Rabbit Hash General Store. The
ride brings business to many local establishments while providing friendly
competition among the riders. Food, entertainment, a motorcycle show, and
prizes for the best poker hand will be available after the event. Admission to
post-event activities, beginning at 5 pm, is $5.00.

There is sort of a perfect coalescence of events happening tomorrow night. So here's my recommendation on how to spend your evening.

Once you've gotten off work, head straight to The Cincinnatian. Once there, you've got two options:

You can enjoy their new Happy Hour at the classy Cricket Lounge. Every night from 4-7 pm you can choose from 1/2 price items on the rather impressive bar menu. Drink specials include $2.50 Draft Beers (including Bass and Christian Moerlein), 1/2 Price House Wines, $5 Specialty Cocktails, and daily food and drink specials.

Not up for Happy Hour? It's the third Thursday, so that means you can enjoy the Two for $60 option in the restaurant. (Make reservations first though.) You've heard me talk about these enough – you can get a multi-course meal for two plus a bottle of wine for $60 at the Palace. If you haven't gone yet, you should. It's a real bargain and the food is elegant and approachable.

So now that you've eaten, you're ready to drink a little. That's good, because the Bacchanalian Society is hosting their Summer Gathering at the lovely Union Terminal. Haven't been to a Bacchanalian Society event? Well, don't expect high-end wine, but do expect a lot of fun and the chance to meet a lot of new people. This time around, your team (up to 3 people) needs to bring 3 bottles of a French Red. Think Bordeaux, Burgundy, or just walk into Party Source's French aisle and grab the closest Red.

Now, don't get your hopes up that there will be a lot of expensive wine there, even though it's French. A lot of folks will buy the cheapest wine possible and then drink to get drunk. The kind hosts and hostesses (of which I'm usually one) bill this as a wine tasting, though, so please take that into consideration. (Kevin and I are not hosting this time around, as we've been out of town so often that we've missed all the emails and such. Next time!)

There are, of course, rules to the game, which you can read after the jump.